PNY XLR8 DDR5 MAKO RGB (DDR5-6400 CL32) Review – This Thing Rips!

Previously, we’ve looked at PNY’s DDR5-6000 MAKO RGB kit and we concluded it was “fine” in terms of its overclocking ability. Today, we have the DDR5-6400 kit with us – with faster clocks, tighter timings, and also higher voltages to keep these modules well-fed. Let’s see if we have any luck pushing this faster set of RAM.

Unboxing

Notably, the box packaging now includes the logo that denotes Intel XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO standard – though most AMD systems today likely won’t run at DDR4-6400 due to IMC limitations. Not an issue for Intel platforms though, as long as you know where the limits are. Packaging-wise, there is nothing that stands out from other kits from PNY’s gaming sub-brand.

Appearance

The new DDR5-6400 CL32 kits are visually identical to the ones we previously reviewed (DDR5-6000 CL40), prominently featuring the diagonal cuts across the metal heatsink. The RGB cutout provides limited lighting sideways.

This is how it looks like with the modules installed and RGB fired up, though I have to say it’s not quite evenly lit as you can see some bright spots (though it’s slightly exaggerated in this image due to the camera’s way of light perception). Some won’t mind it, others would – it’s a preference thing.

Specifications

PNY XLR8 DDR5 MAKO RGB (DDR5-6400 CL32)

Test System

Overclocking

We kick things off by running a 30-minute OCCT stress test on its stock XMP settings, which is 6400MT/s CL32. We find no thermal issues, though overclocking from this point on is better off with active cooling, mainly to aid stability rather than preventing overheating. It’s also worth noting that our ASUS ROG Maximus motherboard did tweak the RAM timings on its own, cutting down on tRCD, tRP, and tRAS. The CAS Latency itself remains untouched at CL32. Here, the total memory latency is 69.6 nanoseconds.

The next round of stability tests involves increased memory clocks to 6800MT/s paired with CL32-40-40-80 @ 1.435V. No issues! With the latency largely untouched, the increased clocks bring significant latency reduction, down to 66.7 nanoseconds – a 4.3% reduction.

It’s time to push it even further. This time it’s 7200MT/s – and it took us a few tries before finding the correct settings to not produce any memory errors. The first run of CL32-40-40-80 @ 1.45V resulted in failure; then we opened up the tRCD/tRP/tRAS to no avail either. However, increasing the latency to CL34 does work, and we still have a net reduction in memory latency down to 65.1 ns (from 66.7 ns in the 6800MT/s run).

However, that’s as far as we can get. We tried both 7467MT/s and 7600MT/s, widening the timings to CL36, and raising the voltage to an arguably unsafe level of 1.5V (ROG motherboards warn you for doing so, as it limits to 1.45V by default), and all resulted in memory errors spitting out just a few seconds in, except for 7467MT/s CL34-43-43-84 @ 1.5V, which managed to survive a minute or two before errors creep in.

Despite all this, we never crashed hard enough to not POST at any point, so I have to say this XLR8 MAKO RGB kit can likely survive more abuse if given more precise tuning on its timings and sub-timings. For around two days’ worth of tuning, getting it to 7200MT/s CL34 is still a very good result for this set of memory.

Warranty

This set of XLR8 MAKO RGB kit comes with limited lifetime warranty support (“lifetime” here means for as long as this product is available in the market) – users in Malaysia can direct any warranty claims to Fusion Tech Supply Sdn Bhd or PNY Malaysia’s Facebook page. Simply make sure the sticker as seen above is visible in your box packaging.

Conclusion

The PNY XLR8 DDR5-6400 CL32 MAKO RGB is a surprisingly good overclocker, but the best part of it is the price. At RM685 – it’s by far the cheapest set of kits we’ve found thus far in this class (there’s also a white version that comes with RM10 extra). The only part we had to nitpick is the looks, for which the RGB probably can be improved for more even lighting.

If you’re looking for a high-performance RAM kit to accommodate your Intel build, or a next-gen AMD build (6400MT/s support is probably going to happen soon enough as the chip quality improves over time), this is one very solid option.

Special thanks to PNY Malaysia for sending us the PNY XLR8 DDR5-6400 CL32 MAKO RGB for this review. You can purchase the kit on the official Shopee store by clicking here.